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[16:05] * Aline strode through the halls of the Gendo brig. She knew it a bit personally, but she was looking for one person in particular. Now, fortunately for her, the situation about her own autonomy was a bit relaxed, so it only took a few hoops to jump through, to eventually end up walking into one cell in particular. That of Solomon Augustine.
[16:18] <Gerblo> [Augustine was still healing from being beaten as hard as a Prime could be without dying.-
[16:18] <Gerblo> [Which was both a lot, and also an ugly sight to see.-
[16:19] <Gerblo> [Still, he gave her a smile and gingerly picked up the phone.]
[16:22] * Aline picked it up as well. "…It's been a long, strange, trip. I have some 'work' favors to ask of you, but I also just want to see how you're doing. Because… …I remember, what you remembered."
[16:38] <Gerblo> ["How does it feel to remember?"]
[16:39] * Aline had to pause for a moment. "…Invigorating. Life-affirming. …Melancholy. To know that things of me were broken and taken is saddening, but that I have a chance to get it back for real gives hope."
[16:49] <Gerblo> ["I'm glad. I'm very happy for you, Aline."]
[16:56] * Aline smiled softly. "…Which is good. I'm… I'm glad you came to help, too. I don't know what all you were up to, but it was needed, and was… somehow satisfying?"
[17:04] <Gerblo> ["Oh?"]
[17:05] <Aline> "…Like. There was some sense of regret, that I was leaving you and the other Primes behind to Mary's 'mercy' when I escaped. …But, even if it meant you obviously snuck onto the Dorian, it was a relief to see you were free enough to fight Albus."
[17:07] <Gerblo> ["Hah, I see. It was validating."]
[17:11] <Aline> "Yes! I guess that's a good word to use for it. …" She paused. "Speaking of validation. Did you know that your donor actually is part of why I broke out of the Drive?"
[17:13] <Gerblo> ["I did not!"]
[17:15] <Aline> "Hehehe." Aline allowed that giggle. "Apparently, I had forgot this, but he had secreted a small soul-shard in me as a safeguard. …And the opportunity came for that shard to spend of itself to break the actual Drive bond. … …Makes me wonder if it's possible, given the right tools or situation, to repeat that." She closed her eyes for a second, though. "My relationship with the original Kaworu, or Eugenia, still is complicated,
[17:15] <Aline> it seems."
[17:25] <Gerblo> ["It would be most surprising if it weren't…"]
[17:30] * Aline had quite the… awkward nod at that. "A peer in soul, and… technically my daughter. Son. Both, really." She actually blushed a bit, remembering the thing that Marianne definitely ranted at her for. Oops. "But then they had their… …thing." She was sounding both wistful and embarrassed. "That kind of, perfect but tormented love, dying together but free, all that. Romantic but yet… tragic."
[17:42] <Gerblo> ["Mmm…"-
[17:42] <Gerblo> ["Having seen tragic romance, I understand the appeal, but I'm not sure it's for me. Have you read Dream of the Red Chamber?"]
[17:43] * Aline perked, thinking for a moment, but… frowning. "No, I haven't. And I wouldn't read about it, but I at least envy the… sort of mutual adoration…"
[17:45] <Gerblo> ["Of course, of course."]
[17:46] * Aline leaned a bit towards the wall. "But, was the book such a thing, or did you have a different reason to mention it?"
[17:47] <Gerblo> ["There's some tragedy in it, I suppose. The main character is in love with one woman, but she's destined to die of sickness before he can marry her."]
[17:50] <Aline> "Aha. …There must be something to it, because uh." She got a sheepish look. "That either sounds like a prophetic destiny, or just. An inevitability. …I'm actually having trouble thinking of what the plot is like."
[17:51] <Gerblo> ["You should give it a read. It's mostly about a man reflecting on the lives of the many women in his life."]
[17:55] <Aline> "Ohhhhh it's a framing device." Aline said, realizing the point. "Sounds deeper than usual. …I take it it appealed to you? Possibly because it had a more… how to put. thrust towards contemplating what the fullness of one's life is? That seems to be closer to your style."
[18:09] <Gerblo> ["Hm." He smiled. "That may well be true."-
[18:10] <Gerblo> ["The story is introduced with a rock who begs a Buddhist monk to show him what human life is like. The monk does so in order to show the rock how empty it all is. It felt like an interesting way to look at how humans see themselves."]
[18:13] * Aline nodded her head. "Ah yes, Buddhism… It's strange, the serenity you can reach when you look into the void. Not that that's at all ALL of the religion, but…" She wiggled her not-receiver hand. "But yes, there's… a lot of uncertainty, searching for meaning and not always finding it. …Angels don't seem to be that way. A hypothietical 'true Lilim' might not be that way either."